Vapor generator



Aug. 7, 1962 R. F. ABRAHAMSEN VAPOR GENERATOR Filed July ll, 1956 United States This invention relates to vapor generators and other iiuid heaters and has particular relation to such organizations employing a -iluidized bed of discrete material within which fuel is introduced and oxidized therewithin and from which heat is transferred through-indirect heat exchange to a uid to be heated or vaporized.

A bed of discrete material may be fluidized by passing a stream of Vgas upwardly therethrough, with iluidization for a particular particle size occurring at or above a predetermined velocity. When in this iluidized state the particles of the material move rather rapidly throughout the body of the material with the entire mass being in an agitated state resembling a boiling liquid and with the violence of the agitation `depending upon the velocity of the gas passing upwardly through the material. When in this fiuidized state the material is not carried along with the fluidizing gas and although' the body of material will be expanded from its packed or non-lluidized condition, the fluidizing gas passes through the material and leaves the same at what is termed a disengaging zone. With a given particle size the Velocity of the gases passing through the material must be maintained within specific minimum and maximum limits in order to have proper iluidization. The maximum limit is that where substantial quantities of the material are carried away by the upflowing gas stream or, in other words, the material becomes entrained within the gas stream, 4while the minimum limit is that 4below which iluidization does not occur with the mass of material remaining in the so-called packed condition with the patricles not moving from their at rest position.

These iluidized beds of material have the inherent properties of providing excellent contact between the upwardly flowing iluidizing gas `stream andthe particles in the bed and of providing extremely high rates of heat transfer from this gas stream to a heat exchange coil, or the like, immersed within the bed. These properties make it highly advantageous to be able to introduce and burn a fuel directly within such a bed and t-o albsorb heat from the bed for the generation and/or` heating of steam or th heating -of other uids.

In order to oxidize a lfuel-air mix-ture within a bed of material it is necessary that `the bed be heated to a predetermined high temperature for this oxidation reaction to take place. It has been found that the materials which are most suitable from an economic and operational standpoint need to be heated to a rather high temperature before the oxidation reaction will take place. Because of this rather high temperature it is somewhat difficult to adequately heat this material in a feasible and satisfactory manner. It has been found that the employment of an active oxidation catalyst immediately upstream of the bed of material with relation to the direction of ilo-w of the fluidizing gas provides a rather simple and economic way of heating the bed of material since the oxidation catalyst will effect oxidation of a fuel-air mixture at a much lower temperature than the bed of material which may be inert material or a much less active oxidation catalyst and the heat liberated through this `catalytic oxidation may be employed to raiserthe temperature of the bed of material to its required minimum value.

The oxidation catalysts to which reference is being made, have definite upper and lower temperature limits inbetweenwhich the catalyst will properly perform its intended function of catalyzing the oxidation processes of aterit f 'ice the fuel with the upper limit being termed the deactivation temperature above which the catalyst is inoperative and is permanently destroyed or permanently impaired and the lower limit 4being termed the activation temperature below which the catalyst will not function as a catalyst to catalyze the oxidation process. The catalysts that are herein contemplated vfunction to catalytically oxidize the fuel without the development of a flame `and owe their activity to physical structure iand/ or chemical consti-tuents which require that they be used 'under such conditions that these special characteristics will not be destroyed. Examples of oxidation catalyst which are particularly suited for use in the invention including activated forms of metal oxides impregnated with a minor amount of metal in nely divided form.

In particular, activated forms of alumina, beryllia, thoria, zirconia, or magnesia, or mixtures lof Ithese oxides, impregnated with minor amounts of finely divided metals such as platinum, palladium, rhodium, ruthenium, silver, copper, chromium, manganese, nickel, cobalt or combinations of these metals -such as silver-chromium, copper chromium, copper-manganese combination, have been found to be especially suitable. Activated forms of these metal oxides may be prepared lby controlled dehydration of hydrated form of the oxide `of the metal with the activated form of meta-l oxide thus produced having an extremely high porosity which results in a very large area being impregnated with the finely divided metal.

The present invention is directed to a novel organization employing an oxidation catalyst immediately upstream of a bed of material which is required to be heated to a much higher temperature than the oxidation catalyst before a fuel-air mixture will be oxidized or burned within the bed of material. In accordance with the invention lthere is provided a housing within which is disposed a bed of discrete material. This bed of material is supported upon a plurality of horizontally disposed elongated members extending across the housing-and disposed in generally parallel spaced relation such that the material cannot pass downward past these members but lluidizing gas may pass upward therethrough. These members are coated or impregnated with an active oxidation catalyst such that the activation temperature of the catalyst is substantially below the minimum bed temperature which is required to oxidize a fuel-air mixture. Means are provided to force air upwardly through the housing over the elongated members and through the bed of material to iluidize this material with an air heater being employed to heat the air sufficiently to raise the temperature of the catalyst to its activation temperature. Below the elongated members are a plurality of fuel distribution conduits and immediately above these members and in the lower portion of the bed there is another Vgroup of fuel distribution conduits. ln operation, the fuel distribution conduits below the elongated members are rst used to inject fuel into the housing and this fuel mixes with the air'and is oxidized by the catalyst with the heat thus developed heating the bed of material or a portion of the bed to its required minimum temperature. Thereafter fuel is introduced into the fuel distribution conduits immediately above the elongated members and the supply of fuel below these members is terminated. In lieu of providing separate fuel distribution conduits below the elongated members which support the bed these members may be hollow with downwardly facing openings provided therein so that the members themselves form distribution conduits to which fuel may be supplied.

It is an object of this invention to provided an improved vapor generator or heater employing a uidized bed of discrete material within which a fuel-air mixture is introduced and oxidized.

"These, elongated r'fnember re.; j y closely. spaced relationgsofas 1toproinde,op ng 13 be ther and further objects of theinvention willbecome Y` f apparent to those skilledin the art as the' description t proceeds.

With the aforementioned objects in View, theinvention comprises an arrangement, constructionand combination,

defiance.. y

of the `elements of the inventive organization in` suchy a' manner as to attain the results desired as `hereinafter more particularly set forth in the following detailed description of an illustrative embodiment, said embodimentfbeingf shown by the accompanying drawings wherein:

, FIG. `Isis a diagrammatic representationk in the'form of ra vertical section of a vapor generator or fluid heater embodying kthe present inventionff n FIG. 2 is a; section. taken along 2.--2 of FliG.` l'.V y FIG.` 3 is a detailed transvere sectionoffoue of the elongated membersy makingup the supportforrthebedV of material.

y `extremely.high ratesfofheat transferto the iiuid flowing.

ifo

FIG. 4 isa view similar to FIG. but showingamoditied construction of these elongated members.,4

Referring now to thedrawing, wherein likey reference characters are used throughout todesignate likeielements,

n the vapor generator or iiuidiheater` shownth'erein eom`' .f priseshousing 1d within which' is disposed a .bedgof ma-r yterial 12 which is in discrete or particulate form so that it f may rbeiiuidized by passinga gas upwardly therethrough withi redeterminedran e oty loctie. `b d` a n a p f g Ve l s s e" of nire since'this `z'onesyv'illr spread hyitselffupon introduc-- t material is supported yin spaced relationfwith the `bottom f of the housing andupon the'support. designated generally 14. This support isr made up of a plurality of `elongated bars,'rods or tubesl, which extend,,acrossfthehousing and aresupportedby thehousing 'an suitable;` t

tween adjacent members which` permit fthe Uflow lof da iiuidizing gas preferably air, upwardly through'the support and into the bed but prevent the `passage of the particulate material of the bed downward through the support.

Combustion supporting air is supplied to the lower end of housing 10 by blower 20 through duct 22 and this air is heated as desired by any suitable air heater diagrammatically represented as 24.

Fuel may be introduced into the housing 10' either below or above support 14 with the fuel being supplied below the support by the distribution conduits 26 and above the support by the distribution conduits 28 with these conduits extending across housing I9 and ybeing connected to the supply headers 30' and 32, respectively.

Positioned within bed 12 is the heat exchange coil 34 through which a uid to be heated is conveyed and with this coil function as a vapor generator for the generation of steam or other vapor or as a heater for any desired fluid.

The elongated members 16 are coated or impregnated with an oxidation catalyst and the material in bed 12 must be heated to a temperature well above the activation ternperature of this catalyst before a fuel-air mixture introduced into this bed will be oxidized upon passing through the bed.

In initiating operation of the vapor generator or fluid heater of this invention blower 20 and air heater 24.are activated so that hot air is forced upwardly through housing 10 passing over the elongated members of support 14 and upwardly through bed 12 with this air being heated f sufciently to heat the members 16 to the activation ternperature of the' catalyst. Thereafter fuel is introduced below support 14 through distribution conduits 26 and this fuel, being mixed with the air, is oxidized by the oxidation catalyst provided on the members of the support. The heat generated through the oxidation of this fuel rheats the material of the bed or at least a portion or zone of it to the minimum temperature required for the oxidation of a fuel-air mixture introduced into the bed. Thereafter fuel is introduced into the lower portion of the bed through the distribution conduits 28 and the supply of fuel to the its deactivationtemperature. n t p In lieu of providing `separate fuel distribution Iconduits suchras 26 below the supportfldthe elongated elements 16o-f the support may kbe hollow as shown inFIG'; 4 and identified'as k36,witlt1 openings' being provided inthe bottom: or lower portion of `theseelongated.elements'o f, y and distributedthroughout the length thereofso thatzfuel l L may be introduced` intoftheselmembers *and* distributed l f `is re through the/coil 34.v The air yowing'past members 16 will keep them gsuiciently cool to prevent ytheeatalyst reaching throughout the area of the support and below the support t with the fuel-air'` mixture thus producedvpassingover: the j A- elementsilwhichrnalte up thissupport.r These rhollow` elements scouldjbe. controllablysupplied, withr fuely from afheader' such as 30 in the embodimentof FIGS. l-3v j lnstarting `itis` unnecessaryr to heattheentire bed/,of c

materialgl2fto" asfufhciently high temperature for it toi oxidize'a fuel-airmixture therewithin, but it will suliice to heat onlyja ortion of lthis bed to such a hightenipifara-r tion andoxidationfof 'fuelwithin the bed.` a

While I'have illustrated anddescribed a `preferred emy 'y bodimentof,myyjinventionit isto beunderstood-ihat such'y nd@ not `restricttiriesandi, that #tra set forth butdesire to avail ymyselfMo/f suchy changes as fall within the purview o f my invention.

What is claimed is:

1.' In a vapor generator the combination for an upright housing, a bed of discrete material disposedwithin said housing, a generally horizontally disposed support for said bed of discrete material extending across said housf ing and including elongated members -in parallel spaced Yrelation with the spacing of adjacent members being sufficiently close as to prevent the passage of the discrete material therebetweenwhile permitting the passage of air` upwardly therethrough into the bed, the outer surface of said members being comprised of a material that is an active oxidation catalyst having an activation temperature welly below the minimum `bed temperature that is required to oxidize .a fuel-air mixture, means for heating the catalyst to its activation temperature, means for forcing air upwardly throughfthe housing support and the bed of material at a rate to uidize the material, means for introducing a fuel into the housing in a manner to contact the outer surface of the support members, means for introducing a fuel into the housing above the support, and a heat exchanger through which a fluid may be conveyed disposed in said bed.

2. The organization of claim l wherein the support members are solid.

3. The organization of claim 1 wherein the support ymembers are hollow and are provided with downwardly facing openings and ywherein the means for introducing fuel into the housing in a manner to contact the' outer surface of the support members includes means to intro duce fuel into these members for projection from these openings. n

4. In a vapor generator comprising an upright housing containing a bed of discrete material capable of completely oxidizing a fuel-air mixture when the material is above a 'predetermined temperature, a grid at the lower portion of said bed and comprised of hollow elongated members positioned in parallel, spaced relation across the area of the housing; said members having downwardly facing openings distributed along their length and the outer surface of said members being comprised of an active oxidation catalyst having an activation temperature well below the minimum Ibed temperature that is required to oxidize a fuel-air mixture, means for forcing air upwardly through said bed of material and grid lat a sucient velocity to uidize said bed of material, means for heating said air and in turn said grid to raise the temperature of the grid above the activation temperature of the catalyst, means for introducing fuel into said elongated members for distribution through said downwardly facing openings for oxidation on the surface of said members, means for introducing fuel into the bed at a location above said grid, and steam generating tubes disposed within said bed of material.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,404,574 Hammond July 23, 1946 2,729,428 Milmore Jan. 3, 1956 2,876,079 Upchurch Mar. 3, 1959 10 2,905,523 Houdry et al. Sept. 22, 1959 

